QC-II tones

werdnuts · Post by **werdnuts** » Fri Nov 21, 2003 9:09 pm

Just for S&G, I started messing around w/ my scanner to see if i could find a way to decode QC2 paging tones real time. In my quest, i have interfaced the speaker out of the scanner with the line in on my PC. my next hurdle was finding software to decode the tones. herein lies the issue, i have found a couple of spectrum analyzer and frequency counters that work, but are not super accurate. to test, i programmed a couple of QC2 alerts in my HT1550. i initiate call alerts w/ known tones and watch the programs for the results.

does anyone know of any decent software out there? has anyone found a day to decode and record? (its nice to know what the tones are and what they represent.)

i am curious as to your findings!

-werdnuts

The Pager Geek · Post by **The Pager Geek** » Fri Nov 21, 2003 11:27 pm

Wintone for tone decoding.
Scanner Recorder (I think that's the name) for recording.

Both readily available on the net...

tpg

werdnuts · Post by **werdnuts** » Fri Nov 21, 2003 11:48 pm

i tried wintone... with no luck. i supposed i should mention that i am running windows 2000 pro. wintone runs on the NT platform... i could get it to run, i just couldnt get it to 'see' the audio. quite perplexing.... i played w/ wintone for a long time first off. do you have any suggestions as to getting wintone working?

thanks,

-werdnuts

hooknladder · Post by **hooknladder** » Sat Nov 22, 2003 7:12 pm

Search the net for Cool Edit 96. It's shareware and I think it's what you need.

werdnuts · Post by **werdnuts** » Sat Nov 22, 2003 9:14 pm

thanks... i'll give it a try!

-werdnuts

EKS · Post by **EKS** » Sun Nov 23, 2003 6:59 am

werdnuts wrote:i tried wintone... with no luck. i supposed i should mention that i am running windows 2000 pro. wintone runs on the NT platform... i could get it to run, i just couldnt get it to 'see' the audio. quite perplexing.... i played w/ wintone for a long time first off. do you have any suggestions as to getting wintone working?

thanks,

-werdnuts

Don't interface it directly with the scanner. Use a mic on the computer. It probably didn't work because it was decoding the noise on the line.

werdnuts · Post by **werdnuts** » Sun Nov 23, 2003 7:58 am

actually, i had it running through the mic. i just couldnt get it to see or do anything from any audio input.

EKS · Post by **EKS** » Sun Nov 23, 2003 9:18 am

werdnuts wrote:actually, i had it running through the mic. i just couldnt get it to see or do anything from any audio input.

Just out of curiosity, can you record stuff with the mic?

I have an audigy sound card and the mic will only work as an input if the creative recorder program has it selected as an input.

Jonathan KC8RYW · Post by **Jonathan KC8RYW** » Sun Nov 23, 2003 12:28 pm

I'll second using CoolEdit 96.

Search for "c96setup.exe" in Google.

Make sure the record level isn't too hot. To set the record level, unsquelch the reciever with "fuzz" and set it to peak at about -3 db.

Use at least 11025 Hz record sampling, at 16 bits.

Click on a section of the tone that you want to find the frequency for, and press Alt+Z. Set the FFT Size for 8192, Triangular.

Have fun!

werdnuts · Post by **werdnuts** » Mon Nov 24, 2003 12:03 am

thanks, J!

i'll give it a try when i get back in town next week!

-Werdnuts

chipjumper · Post by **chipjumper** » Mon Nov 24, 2003 9:14 am

So is WinTone supposed to decode QCII officially? I didn't see that stated at the software vendors description. Mentioned several acronyms but I didn't notice QCII...